


Swipe Right

by AvengersCompound (emilyevanston)



Series: Super Like and Swipe Right [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Confusion, Dating, Demisexual Steve Rogers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Online Dating, Oral Sex, Romance, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Sexting, Sexual Discovery, Slow Burn, Smut, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-08-17 07:11:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16511663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyevanston/pseuds/AvengersCompound
Summary: Sam Wilson signs Steve up for Tinder.  When the woman he Super Likes during Sam’s tutorial messages him, Steve goes from unwilling dating app user to developing feelings.This is a story that is told from two different perspectives. Super Like is from the readers. Swipe Right is from Steve's. You can read either or both or mix and match chapters and get the whole story. I personally prefer Swipe Right. However, if you choose to read both, start with Super Like chapter 1.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains Images that you need to view to be able to follow the story.

Steve was trying his damnedest to ignore Sam.  Not that Sam was making it easy.  The topic of conversation for weeks now was Steve dating.  He’d thought it had been bad when Natasha had gotten a bee in her bonnet about it.  Sam was worse.  Part of it was because they were teaming up on him now.  When Sam exhausted himself, Natasha would just take over where he left off.

They tried setting him up with people and pointing people out on the street.  Now Sam was trying to get him into online dating.  Steve had tried to explain that he had no interest in online dating.  That he didn’t think it was real.  That maybe he was still a little more traditional than that.  That there was no way he could trust that anyone he met online would actually just like him for him.  That’s always what it came down to in the end; he couldn’t trust that anyone saw him anymore.

“If you don’t at least come and pretend to be interested in this I’m gonna just fill it out how I want to, man.”  Sam said as he clicked around on Steve’s phone.

Steve sighed.  “Do what you have to do, Sam.”

Sam barked out a laugh and shook his head.   “You’re gonna regret that, Cap.”

Steve rolled his eyes and went back to attempting to ignore Sam, even as he sat next to him sniggering to himself.  After a little while, Sam nudged him.  “So you’re all signed up.  Let me just show you the basics.”

“Fine.”  Steve conceded, looking over his shoulder.  “Not like I’ll use it though.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Whatever you say, old man.”  Sam said holding out the phone.  “So you open the app here.  Right?”  He said pointing to a red circle with a white flame in it.   “And then you get the profiles of the people in the area looking for people.  You like the look of the photo you can click it like this.”  He said clicking on the photo of the man on the screen now.  And it has a biography on them.  See this guy says he’s just looking for a hookup and that he’s cut.  So… I’m guessing that’s a no from you.”

Steve rolled his eyes again.  “If that’s all it says, then yeah… that’s a no.”

“So, you can either press this x to say you’re not interested.  Or you can swipe left, like this.”  Sam said showing him.  “Now you go through find someone you might like and I’ll show you what to do next.”

Steve took the phone and started looking at people’s profiles.  Sometimes all it took was a glance at the photo and he knew that person didn’t want the same thing as he did.  Sometimes it took a more thorough dig through, but each profile, one after another he would swipe left.  Slowly Sam got more and more agitated beside him until he had his head falling back on the couch and he was just groaning loudly.  “Steve…”   He groaned dragging the name out for ten whole seconds.  “You’re killing me here.  Just one person.  One that you think might be okay.”

Steve held out the phone on a woman who, while maybe he wasn’t sure he thought she had a nice smile and her taste in music wasn’t completely alien to him.  “She might be okay.”

“Finally,”  Sam groaned, taking the phone.  “Right so when you like someone you can either press the heart here or swipe to the right,”  Sam said swiping right on the profile.  “So nothing happened then, which could mean she already said no to you, or she might not have seen your profile.  She won’t be notified at all that you’re interested.  She’ll get shown your profile with a bunch of others and make her own choice.  If she does like you, you’ll get a notification and you can start talking.”  Sam said handing the phone back.  “Now find another one you like and this time don’t take so long.”

Steve went back to looking through profiles.  He tried not to be quite as harsh this time.  The fact the people didn’t get told either way made him feel better.  It was good coming at this without hurting anyone’s feelings.  Eventually, he settled on your profile.  He figured if you were at an event he was at he wouldn’t mind talking to you so that would probably do.

“She seems nice.”  He said handing the phone back to Sam.

“Oh thank Thor.”  Sam huffed.  “Alright, so now I’m gonna super like this woman.  That’s this star here.”  He said showing Steve the phone and pressing the blue star at the bottom.  “You only get a few of those a day but that means you’re extra interested and she’s gonna get a notification that shows you your profile.”

“She what?  Sam!  I didn’t agree to that!”  Steve yelped snatching the phone back and flicking around trying to figure out how to undo the damage that Sam had just caused.

“Suck it up, Cap.  What’s the worst that could happen?  She talks to you?”  Sam said with a shrug.

Steve scowled and put his phone away.  He didn’t want to say what he thought was the worst that could happen.  The worst that could happen ran a huge gamut between you being a celebrity chaser who just likes the idea of getting with Captain America right through to you being someone he falls in love with only to have you taken by HYDRA and tortured just to get to him.

“Come on, grumpy.  Cheer up.  Who knows, maybe you’ll find someone.”  Sam said patting his back and getting up.  “You want a beer?”

“Yeah, alright.”  Steve agreed, sinking back into the couch and scratching the back of his head.  As Sam came back and handed him his bottle his phone vibrated in his pocket.  Steve pulled it out and saw the notification on the Tinder app.

“It says I have a new match,”  Steve said.

“So open it,”  Sam said.

As Steve clicked on the app his phone vibrated again.  “There’s a message.”

“So read it,”  Sam said.

Steve tapped a few things, furrowing his brow.  “I don’t know how!”

Sam took the phone and opened up the message Steve had received.

Steve read the message and furrowed his brow.  He wasn’t sure what to make of it.  The fact you’d called him Captain rubbed him the wrong way and the mention of hooking up just put him on edge.  He closed it up and put the phone away.

“Oh come on, man.  What’d she say?”  Sam asked.

“She asked me if I was looking for a hookup,”  Steve said.

“So tell her you aren’t,”  Sam said.

Steve shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I don’t think she’s suitable.”

Sam burst out laughing.  “Suitable?  Suitable?  You’re ridiculous you know that?”  Steve shifted uncomfortably and sat up straighter.  “Oh, what is it, man?”

“She called me Captain.”  Steve sighed.  Sam started laughing harder.  “Sam…”

“That’s my fault, Steve.  You wouldn’t do your profile, so it’s kind of ridiculous.”  Sam said flicking over to it.  Steve looked at everything and groaned.  The profile picture was him in his old Stealth Suit and the bio just said ‘I’m Captain America, what else do you need to know?’  He moved to the photos and felt his skin flush.  There were some nice photos of him just spending time as a civilian with his friends, but somehow Sam had gotten a photo of him shirtless and another of him sleeping.

“Where did you even get this one?”  Steve asked showing the screen to Sam.

Sam nearly fell off the couch he was laughing so hard.  “You looked so peaceful.”

“For god’s sake, Sam.”  He groaned.

“Just message her.  Ask her to call you Steve.”  Sam said.  Steve groaned again and pulled out his phone.

The fact you easily slipped into calling him Steve made him feel more at ease.  Having you ask which friend still made him feel a little strange.  It was always strange being known and having people just know everything about you.  Sam nudged him and gave him a ‘carry on’ motion.

“Sam!  You set my favorite song as Trouble Man?”  Steve asked, exasperated.

Sam held his side like he was getting a stitch.  “What?  It’s a good song!”  He wheezed.  “Maybe if you helped make your profile you could have chosen one!”

Steve paused not sure if he was willing to talk to a stranger about it.  Sam nudged him again.

Steve wasn’t sure what that was even supposed to mean.  He showed the screen to Sam.  “What’s that mean?  Really well thought out?”

Sam looked at the message and shrugged.  “No idea.  Maybe a weird miscommunication.”

Steve shook his head and started typing again.

Steve chewed on the inside of his cheek.  He guessed it was better to be completely honest now.

Steve put his phone back in his pocket and Sam looked at him with his eyebrow raised.  “What?”  Steve asked.

“So?  You gonna meet her.”  Sam asked.

“No.  I don’t think … what was it again?  Timber?  Is for me.”  Steve replied.

Sam laughed again.  “Timber?  Steve?  Really.”  He said.  “Did she say something wrong?”

Steve gave a noncommittal shrug.  “No.  She seemed nice enough.  But what do I know about her?”

Sam rolled his eyes and nudged Steve.  “So get to know her.  Talk to her.  That’s what the app is for.”

* * *

The following day Sam’s words had gotten to him.  He hadn’t really given you much of a chance.  He went about his morning as normal and by lunch, he decided to message you again.

He chatted with you for a little over an hour before work pulled him away.  Then the following day it was longer again.  It became common to speak to you when you as soon as he was done with his run in the morning and just before he fell asleep at night.  There was an honesty when he spoke to you that he didn’t really have with many other people.  With you, he was only ever Steve.  There were no orders given.  No lives at risk.  Even with Bucky and Sam who knew him better than everyone else, they had to sometimes be his subordinates.  He had to be Cap.

It was different from when he met other civilians too.  They seemed to only be interested in either the shield or the body he was in.  They moved to try and make it about sex way too fast.  They seemed to have no interest in Steve at all.

You had never known Cap.  You spoke to him earnestly.  You listened to him in a way very few people did.  You never pressured to meet him.  While conversation did brush on sex it was never something forced.

Steve went from feeling that speaking to you was slightly strange and awkward, to feeling like you could be friends, to feeling that you were friends, to feeling like he wanted more than that.  He spoke about you regularly.  To the point that when he mentioned your name the others would say something like ‘oh yeah, and what does she say?’

Sam started to push him.  “You gotta meet her, man.  You talk about her all the time.”

Steve shrugged.  “I just… what if she isn’t the same in person?”

Sam shook his head and raked his hands down his face.  “Why don’t you wanna be happy?”

“It’s not that,”  Steve said.  “I just…”

“It’s kinda that,”  Sam said.  “You have just gotten so…”  Sam was interrupted by the chimes of the Tinder app.  “Well, whatta ya know?  Ask to meet her.”

Steve took out his phone and opened up the messages waving Sam off.

Steve almost felt like he’d been slapped.  That you had seen right to the core of the problem.  “What’s going on?”  Sam asked.

“Nothing.  Nothing.”  Steve said.

“You look like you’ve been dunked in ice.”  Sam teased.

“You know what…?”  Steve snarked making Sam burst into laughter.

“Seriously, man, what happened?”  Sam asked

Steve sighed.  “I don’t know.  Nothing.  I just… sometimes it feels like she knows me better than anyone else.”

“Rude.”  Sam teased.  “You should meet her.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I know your opinion on the matter.”  Steve snarked.

“You’re killing me here, you know that?”  Sam said shaking his head.

Steve picked up his phone again.

Steve put the phone down on his lap again and stared off into space for a moment considering whether or not he really wanted to suggest what he was thinking of suggesting.

“What’s going on, Cap?”  Sam asked.

Steve shook his head slightly.  “You really think I should meet her?”

“Yes, Steve.  For the love of Thor!  Yes, you should meet her.”  Sam groaned.

“But what if…”  Steve said.

“Just organize to meet her!”  Sam almost shouted.

Steve got up and headed to his room, trying to figure out what it was he actually wanted.  He paced for a moment before picking up his phone and typing.

Steve held his phone to his chest.  He didn’t know.  That was the truth of the matter.  He wanted to meet you.

There was no answer from you for a while.  Steve felt like his heart was going to beat it’s way out of his chest and he went to the bathroom and got ready to for bed.  When he got back his phone buzzed again.

Steve laughed at the thought that you didn’t think you’d recognize him.  He would have to tell Natasha he was a better spy than she said.

That Saturday dawned warm and sunny but it didn’t change how nervous he felt.  He went on his run with Sam as normal and did some work in the office.  He was just going through some reports from a past mission when his phone chimed.

Steve tucked his phone and wallet in his pocket and put on his cap and glasses before heading down to the lobby in the elevator.  He stopped for some children who recognized him and took a photo before heading into the coffee shop and looking around.  He spotted you almost immediately, head down looking at your phone.  When you still hadn’t looked up he smiled to himself and got out his phone again.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve had gone back upstairs feeling light and excited.  He had known he liked you and he had known there was a connection there.  He still worried.  He worried that maybe you weren’t who you had been talking to.  He knew he had found it much easier to open up via the screen, so it stood to reason that it would have true for you too.  Maybe there was a chance that face to face you’d both be completely awkward.  Or maybe there just wouldn’t be that spark people always talk about. **  
**

He was wrong though.  It was there.  He’d had butterflies in his stomach as the two of you had spoken and he’d just felt comfortable.  Even with that flutter in his stomach, it was you.  The you who he had been speaking to every day for months.  You put him at ease just like you had when you talked on the phone.

He’d gone back to work feeling good.  Happy.  Like a tiny aspect of himself that he didn’t even know existed had finally been able to see the light of day and for once he actually felt warm.  When work ended he’d gone to the common room knowing full well that Sam was going to grill him for information and really not minding at all.

Sam didn’t even wait to say hello.  He walked into the kitchen where Steve was getting himself a drink and leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.  “Well?”

Steve kept his face neutral and grabbed a bottle of Snapple from the fridge before turning to Sam.  “Well, what?”

Sam chuckled and shook his head.  “You know what.  Come on, man.  How was it?  Spill.”

Steve unfastened the cap on the bottle and took a swig of his peach iced tea.  Sam watched him impatiently strumming his fingers on his forearm.  Steve swallowed and smiled at Sam.  “It was good.  Nice.  I really liked her.”

“That’s it?  You liked her.”  Sam pushed.

“Yeah.  It’s her.  It felt like we were just taking off from our last conversation.  I liked hearing her voice.  She sounded different than I thought.  But better.”

“You got it bad.  This is awesome.”  Sam said coming over and clapping Steve on the shoulder.  “So you gonna ask her out?  Go on a proper date?”

“Yeah.  Yes.  I want to.  I thought I’d give her a few days to process.”  Steve said.

“No way.  Cap!  Lock it in.  You don’t want a huge gap after a coffee date.”  Sam insisted.

Steve picked at the label of his drink, brow furrowed.  “You think?”

“The guy who took so long to ask a girl on a date she died of old age?  Yeah, man.  You gotta get on it.”  Sam teased.

Steve got out his phone and stared at it for a moment.  “Go on,”  Sam said, nudging him.

“Where would I take her?”  Steve asked.

Sam rolled his eyes.  “Do I have to do everything?”  He teased.  “There’s a place called Pietro’s a block over.  It’s almost as old as you.”

“Seriously?”  Steve asked.

“Yeah seriously.  It’s Italian.  I pass it on the way to run down the East River.”  Sam said.

Steve held his phone up and started typing.

Steve smiled glad he got the confirmation that you had felt the same way.

He took a deep breath.  His fingers hovering over the keys and his eyes closed.  There was a sudden snap and sting on his thigh and he opened his eyes to see Sam holding a coiled up dish towel in his hand.  “Hurry up.”  He said.

Steve scowled took another breath and began typing.

For a second Steve wished he could take those words back.  Why point that out?  He cursed under his breath as he watched the ellipse flicker at the bottom of the screen.

“What did she say?”  Sam asked in a slightly sing-song voice as Steve tucked his phone back away.

“We’re going out on Friday,”  Steve said.

Sam clapped him on his shoulder a broad grin plastered on his face.  “That’s my man.”

* * *

Over the next few days, Steve started to get the feeling that you had had a complete change of heart.  Your replies seemed shorter and forced.   When Steve spoke about a particularly tough day, it was met with a simple;

If he asked how you were he was met with;

He was starting to think that your meeting him had the opposite effect on you.  That maybe he couldn’t shrug Cap off enough in person and you could tell that the way he let himself just be Steve through the phone was something he had too much trouble doing in person.

“Did she cancel the date?”  Sam asked as Steve fidgeted on his phone sitting across from him.

“No.  As far as I know, it’s still on.”  Steve answered.

“Give the chick a chance.  She just met Captain America in real life.  Maybe on the phone that didn’t feel completely real.  The day after I met you I got home and my heart just started hammering.  I kept thinking I’d overstepped my line. Maybe you didn’t like random dudes talking to you in the park.”  Sam said.

“Really?  You made me feel like a regular guy with regular person problems.”  Steve said.

Sam laughed loudly throwing his head back.  “You’re welcome.  I still over thought it.  And maybe so is she.  She’ll come around.  You’ve been talking for months.  She’s not gonna turn around and blow it that quickly.”

It only took a few days before Steve felt like he was talking to the woman he’d been getting to know this whole time.  When Friday rolled around he had a nervous excitement that he’d never really felt before.  He’d been in love before and with Peggy, he had gotten those butterflies, but he had never had a chance to get the date or the promise of that date being more.

He went to the restaurant a little early.  He usually left early when he needed to walk around the neighborhood.  There was a high likelihood that he’d get stopped and asked for autographs.  Even if he did have dark glasses on and his hat pulled low.   It wasn’t long before he reached the Pietro’s and was seated out of the way.

His heart jumped when he saw you.  He was a little scared by how strong his feelings for you were after such little in-person contact with each other.  It worried him that one day something would happen and it would all get taken away.  That’s how his life played out.  He never got these kinds of things.  There was still that flicker of hope though, that maybe, just maybe he had paid his dues and he could have a tiny piece of happiness.  He stood up and pulled out the chair.

“You look beautiful.”  He said as he took his own seat.

You smiled at him.  It made those butterflies return to his stomach and he through there was no way you couldn’t tell.  “You look good too.  Have you been waiting long?”  You said.

He shook his head.  “No.  Not at all.  Just got here.”  He let out a breath.  “Sorry, I’m flustered.  I don’t normally get like this.  At least, I haven’t for a long, long time.”

You picked up your menu and put your hand on his.  It soothed him.  Touching you somehow made this all feel more real.  “Why are you so nervous?  We already met.”  You asked.

He ran his thumb down his hand as he picked his own menu up.  “I don’t know.  I really like talking to you and you seemed different after we met.  I thought maybe you had changed your mind about me.”

“No, not at all.  Just … meeting you… it’s a little different in person right?”  You said giving his hand a squeeze.

He nodded.  “Yes.  It’s funny because I know it’s you and I know you.  And I know it’s you…”

“It’s the screen thing again.”  You said.

“That’s it exactly.  Like we have to learn a new aspect.  The more superficial one.”  He replied, happy you were both on the same page.

“And we have to confirm what we already know.”  You added.

“Right.”  He said with a smile.

Over dinner, the two of you talked and got to know each other.  In person he could feel the warmness he was getting from you through the screen in person.  He liked getting to see your little nervous ticks.  He loved the way when he seemed to read when he was getting uncomfortable with the eyes on him and you would reach out and reassure him.

After dinner, he didn’t want to leave you, and with that and just a general not wanting you to have to get home alone he offered to go with you.  You walked close and at some point, he put his arm around you.  It felt good having you pressed against his side.  You fit together like two puzzle pieces.

As you walked you passed a group of drunk men in the street.  “Hey, Cap!  Get it!”  One of them yelled out.

Steve’s arm tightened around your waist.  He hated that he was having to subject you to this kind of thing just by association.  The fame thing was not something he had signed up for and if he could run from it he would.  He could only imagine you would avoid it given the chance.  “I’m sorry.  I don’t get bothered too often.”

You shook your head.  “Isn’t the first time I’ve been catcalled.  Won’t be the last.”

“That doesn’t exactly make me feel better.”  He said with a frown.  Of course, you had.  The world as it was was awful and sometimes he felt it didn’t matter how many times he fought to make it better the worst of people liked dragging it back down into the sludge.

You laughed and leaned into him a little more, another little reassurance for him.  He couldn’t believe how well you read him.  “You know better than anyone the imperfection of the world.”  You said.

“Sadly that’s true.”  He sighed.  “I’m really glad we did this.”

“Me too.”  You replied.  There was a heaviness to your voice and he looked down at you.

“What is it?”  Steve asked.

“Already reading me, Steve?”  You asked.

He chuckled.  The thought it was going both ways was more reassuring than anything else had been.  “I guess I am.  Are you okay?”

“I think next time we should do something more casual.  This just felt a little off.  We should be more relaxed than sitting across from each other making small talk.”  You explained.

Steve seemed to relax a little beside you.  “I was thinking the same thing.  I’m not used to this dynamic at all.”

You reached the stairs to your apartment building and turned to face him.  “Okay.  How about next time we do the make dinner at home and watch a movie style date?”

“That sounds perfect.”  He said running his hand down your arm.  He meant it.  Doing this where there weren’t the eyes and he could relax fully sounded perfect.  “I did have a nice time tonight though.”

You hummed.  “Yes.  Me too.  Just felt like we’d regressed a little.”

He nodded.  “That is it exactly.  Next Friday?”

“I’d love to.  You want to come here or me to you?”  You asked.

“Here?”  He answered.  “Not sure if I’m ready to have my friends come and grill you about your intentions yet.”

“They mean well at least.”  You laughed.  “My place it is.  You’re welcome to come anytime after six.”

“I’ll be here.”  He said.  He hovered for a moment torn between what he should do.  Back in the 40s, he wouldn’t have dared to go in for a kiss so early.  Now things were different and he did want to but it didn’t feel right yet.  Once again you seemed to read his mind.  You leaned up and kissed his cheek.  It felt like the exact right move.  Just exactly what he wanted.

“Text me when you get home.”  You said.

“Of course I will,”  Steve said.  “Maybe on the train on the way home.”

You laughed and unlocked the door.  “Night, Steve.  Talk in a little bit.”

He laughed too scratching the back of his head as a soft pink crept into his cheeks.  “Talk in a bit.”  He agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve felt like he was walking on air on his way back down to the subway station.  He had really enjoyed spending time with you and the thought of a casual dinner at home with you without all the eyes sounded perfect.  He made it down the stairs to the platform just as the train pulled away.  That was not nearly enough to change his mood.

He did wonder about the kiss.  He was glad you’d kissed his cheek, but he still kept thinking he should have gone for it.  That things were different now.  That he had to stop taking to long to make a move on people.  He pulled out his phone as he waited and texted you.

Those few words made a wave of relief wash over him.  You trusted him to trust himself.  You’d just taken the pressure off.  If he needed to go slow you would be there setting the pace with him.

Something shifted between the two of you too as you spoke for the next week.  Along with the usual comfort you had together through the screen there was now a buzz.  An excitement that this could be more.  That it was real.  There was an excitement about taking what seemed to be there through the screen and bringing it into the real world.

Often conversion turned to the upcoming date.  It was on both of your minds a lot and Steve really enjoyed stripping off his uniform at the end of the day and just going through plans with you. It set his mind at ease and gave him something to look forward to.  Food plans were made and you settled on watching a movie.  He had told you to choose a film.  He was interested to see what you would settle on.  It would be a good way of seeing the person you were, and how you saw him.

You spoke about other plans too.  Each conversation increased Steve’s excitement.

Steve pondered the question.  He pictured the two of you together cooking and he liked the way it felt.  He’d never really gotten the hang of cooking though.  Food was scarce growing up and cooking involved boiling.  The fact there was a cafeteria at the tower saved him a lot of effort.

Steve smiled at his phone, loving that you had the options already thought out like that.  That you wanted him to be as comfortable as he could be in your home.

He laughed at your teasing.  He liked the playful undertone.  For the first time in a long time, his mind actually flicked to sex in a way that wasn’t just abstract.  He imagined kissing you up against the kitchen bench and something else stirred in him.  Something he had thought had died with him in the ice.

He stared at his phone for a moment with a smile on his face before putting it away.  When he looked up he realized that Sam had been staring at him the whole time.

“Damn, you have it bad.”  He teased.

Steve nodded.  “I’m not even going to argue with you.  I really like this woman.”

“I’m really glad man.  Just… and I can’t believe I’m the one suggesting this, but don’t rush.  You still have to get to know each other in person.”  Sam said getting up and patting Steve on the shoulder.

On the day of the date, he went out to a nearby bakery to buy dessert.  He settled on a chocolate babka and on the way home he passed a florist.  He looked at the different bouquets and settled on one of daisies, dotted with brightly colored pom pom chrysanthemum.  He liked how it looked a little wild yet innocent.

After work, he showered and dressed and grabbed the dessert, wine, and flowers before texting you.

He felt his face flush.  There was something about you that made him blush a lot.  If it was anyone else he’d hate it.  There was no way Tony would let him get away with bushing.  With you though, he wasn’t bothered at all.

It took him about half an hour to get there and when you answered your door you smiled brightly up at him.  Wow, these are beautiful.”  You said taking them.  “Let me just go find something to put them in.”

He followed you into your apartment and took in your room.  You’d obviously cleaned.  A lot.  He took in your photos and knickknacks.  The rug you had over your couch.  The way you’d laid out your room.  Each thing telling him a little more about you.  “Your place is really nice,”  Steve said following you inside.  “Do you rent?”

You laughed.  “Yes.  Who can afford to own in New York?”

“Honestly, I’m surprised people can afford to rent in New York,”  Steve replied.

He watched you dig around in your cupboard and pull out a glass.  You added water to it and put the flowers inside, before putting the glass on the window sill.  You turned back to him and grinned.  “Okay.  So.  I already did the rice because it’s supposed to be cool.  And I fried some egg.  Now we just have to cut things up and try and assemble them.”

“Alright, show me what to do,”  Steve said, rolling up his sleeves.

Steve really enjoyed assembling the sushi with you despite the fact he couldn’t seem to get it to work.  The chopping bit was fine.  He was good with a blade after all.  It was rolling them that didn’t seem to work.  They wouldn’t stick and as soon as he unrolled the mat they just unwound with it.

“I really have no idea what I’m doing wrong.”  He said looking at you for help.

You started giggling.   There was something about the sound that made him feel like this was exactly how it should be.  Just having fun and not taking it seriously.  “It’s fine.  Really.  Look.”  You said pulling his chopping board over.  You grabbed your knife and chopped everything up so it was just a complete mess of ingredients and then scooped them into a bowl.  “There you go.  Now it’s just a rice bowl.  It’ll still taste good.”

Steve laughed, though he could feel his face flush a little again.  “Tasting good is the most important part I suppose.”

“Here,”  You said, picking up one of your wonky Maki Rolls and raising it to his lips.  He opened his mouth ready for you to put it in and you shoved the whole thing inside.  He made an exaggerated choking sound and you both broke down in laughter.

“Mmm… good.”  He said through his still full mouth.  It was true though.  Even though they were wonky it tasted good.

“Okay.  Let’s take what we have and go watch the movie.”  You said.

He nodded and helped you gather everything up.  As you lay things out on the coffee table Steve poured you both a glass of wine.  “So what are we watching?”

“I have three options.  Two classics.  One I just haven’t seen so it’s a risk.  First up, this is an animation from my childhood.”  You said handing him your copy of the Last Unicorn.  “Here we have a musical I thought you might like.”  You said putting a copy of Into The Woods on top of the first one.  “And finally, we have Rampage.  Which is based on a video game where you play as a monster and smash building and eat people.   It has the Rock in it.  I have no idea if it’s good or not.”

Steve took it and added it to his small pile.  Flicking from one to the next.  He was really mostly tempted to watch the two older movies to see what it was you had chosen specifically to show him.  In the end, the call of the musical won.  He’d always liked a musical.   “How about the musical?”  He said handing you ‘Into the Woods’.

“Fine choice.”  You said getting up and putting the disk into the machine.

You watched the first half of the movie sitting side by side and making your way through your meal.  The second half you sat cross-legged beside him as he lounged back more into the couch.  He felt more comfortable as more time passed.  He was with you at your house.   He didn’t need to pretend to be someone else.  You both randomly tore pieces of Babka off and ate them, or topped up each other’s wine glass.  He could tell you were getting tipsy and for the first time in a long time regretted that the alcohol had no effect on him.  He liked the movie though.  It was modern and funny while calling back to more classic stories.  He liked the humor in it and the spin on the old stories.  He loved the quote ‘Nice is different to good’ particularly.

“I really liked that.”  Steve said moving to tidy things up with you as the credits to the movie started.  “Good choice.  Now I’m interested to see what the one that was a childhood favorite was.”

“Well, it’s still relatively early if you wanted to make this a movie marathon.”  You suggested.

He smiled at you.  He was glad for the offer.  He wasn’t at all ready to end the night.  “I would love that.”

The two of you settled back onto the couch and put on ‘The Last Unicorn’.  Once again Steve relaxed back into the couch and you sat with your legs tucked up beside you.  As it moved on it was like there was a magnetic pull between you and you ended up curled into his side with his arm around you.  It felt good. He loved the way you felt nestled into his side.  Warm and soft against him.

As the movie ended he gave you a little squeeze before stretching.  “God, that was sad.  You really watched that as a kid?”

“Sure did.  It has a happy enough ending.”  You said.

“Being the last of your kind is very real, let me tell you,”  Steve said.  He’d tried to make it in an offhand way but realized there was a dark undercurrent to the words as they left his mouth and felt bad about dumping that on you.

You looked up at him and smiled.  “Well, maybe you’ll find them again too.”

“Getting there.”  He agreed.  He stretched again and sat forward.  “I should probably get going.”

You nodded and stood and he got up behind you.  “Thank you for coming.”  You said as you walked him to the door.

“Thank you for having me,”  Steve said.  He turned to you at the door and smiled.  “I had a really good time.  We should do it again soon.”

“I would love that.”  You agreed.

He looked down at you.  The darkness he’d just brought to the surface seemed to take away the moment and he didn’t feel right kissing you now though even half an hour earlier it would have been perfect.  He leaned down and pecked your cheek.

“Good choice.”  You teased running your hand along his forearm.

“Thank you.”  He said, blushing yet again.  Once again your reassurance making him feel much better about it.  “Good night.”

“Night, Steve.  Text me when you get home.”  You said.

He headed to the stairs feeling better already, he turned back and smiled at you.  “I’ll text you on the train.”


	4. Chapter 4

Steve had gone home from the date feeling good.  He’d learned a lot about you, which surprised him considering how much he already knew thanks to how much you talked.  Plans were made for the following Friday.  Dinner and a movie.  A little cliché maybe but he couldn’t just expect you to want to spend all the time in your apartment even if he did feel really comfortable there with you.

Of course, Sam had wanted all the details.  The word of Steve dating had started spreading through the team and soon they had all figured out that this might actually be something serious and not just one of Sam’s stupid ideas that weren’t going to work out.

“You didn’t kiss her?  Come on, Cap.  It’s a whole new millennium.  You gotta go in for the kiss.”  Tony scolded.

“Give him a break.  You gotta set the pace that fits.”  Sam argued.

“She said for me to go with my gut.  I’m gonna do that if that’s okay with all of you.”  Steve said.  “It’s one of the things I like about her.”

“Wait… wait.  Didn’t you say to me that you were the expert on taking to long?”  Bruce asked.

“I won’t take too long.  I’ve only been on two real dates.”   Steve argued.

Tony snorted.  “I’d have gotten laid eight times in two dates.”

“Oh leave him be,”  Natasha said.  “She has autonomy too.  If she thinks it’s going too slow she can nudge it along.”

Otherwise, it was just a normal week.  That was until the signs of HYDRA infiltrating the three different multinationals.  He and the others were going to have to weed them out and force their hand before the whole thing got out of control.

He’d never felt guilty about needing to go on a mission before.  The only other relationships he’d had were with other people in the same position as him.  Often they went on the missions with him.  He felt terrible.  He hated that he was letting you down.  He hated he wasn’t going to be able to speak to you every day.  Most of all he hated that you were almost definitely going to worry.

Steve looked over the briefing for the mission as he buckled up his suit.  It wasn’t going to be quick that was for sure, but to narrow it down to a specific time wasn’t going to be easy either.

The guilt set in.  He didn’t want you to worry about him.  He knew what that felt like first hand.  The feeling of helplessness.  It wasn’t fun.  He wasn’t sure what he could say that would take it away though.

The change in topic was startling and Steve had no idea what it meant.  Were you not worried?  Why did you want a photo of him in uniform?  Those fears of you seeing him only as Captain America returned and he tried to push them away.  He knew you.  He knew you weren’t that.

He stepped in front of the mirror and took a photo feeling extremely uncomfortable.  He was still not at all used to this trend of taking photos of yourself.

Steve started laughing.  Just like that, his mind was put at ease.  He could see what you were doing now.  You were trying to let him know you were okay.  So that he wouldn’t worry about you.

The mission dragged.  He spent a lot of time indoors on comms while Natasha and Clint did the things they were good at.  Tony drove him absolutely crazy as he paced the room using his tech to hack into different accounts and pull out details of plans.  It was long and often boring but there was a blackout.  They didn’t want to risk HYDRA realizing they were there.  So no personal communication.

He missed speaking to you at night.  He kept finding himself reaching for his phone every time it was his turn to sleep just to tell you goodnight.

When shit had finally hit the fan and the huge firefight had gone down, he was thankful.  He could do fighting.  Fighting meant not being cooped up.  Fighting meant it was almost over.

The arrests were made and the team limped home.  As soon as he got his phone back in his hand, before he even took off his uniform, and even though it was late, he texted you.

“Cap.  What are you doing?  We gotta debrief.”  Sam said packing his wings away.

Steve looked over at him and blinked.  Of course, they did.  Not that he’d forgotten.  He just wanted to put your mind at ease.   “Yeah.  Just letting her know I’m back.”

“Alright, loverboy.  We all wanna go to bed though.  So hurry it up.”  He said.

Steve really, really wanted that too.  It took a long time to debrief and he didn’t want you to stay up all night waiting for him.  Especially, when really what he wanted was to see you again.  To have that date that you missed out on.

Going to the farmers market sounded good, to be honest.  A really normal couples thing to do.  He knew that the Union Square one was a little safer for celebrities too.  The New York rule of leaving people be, came in to play.

The debrief took hours and he was really glad he’d convinced you to go to sleep.  After it was done he dragged himself to bed and passed out almost immediately.  He woke as early as he always did and did his run by himself.  Sam would take no part in going for a run after a mission.  He once claimed it went against the natural order of things.  After his run, he showered and caught the 6 train to Union Square.

He scanned the markets as he headed into them from the subway station.  He spotted the stand and then you, standing scanning the crowd.  He came up behind you and tapped your shoulder.

“Oh my god!  Steve!”  You yelped lunging forward and wrapping your arms around his waist.  You hugged him tightly and for a split second, he was completely startled, just holding his hands out not sure what he should do.  He wasn’t used to public displays of affection and generally, he wasn’t a huge fan of them.  On top of that, he was still just getting used to physical affection from you.

He knew he liked it though and he relaxed, welcoming it and wrapping his arms around you, melting into the embrace.   He breathed you in, happy to have you in his arms and to be back and safe.  “I missed you.”  He whispered.

“I missed you too.”  You replied.  “I kept checking my phone every morning, expecting my good morning message.”

Steve chuckled and nuzzled in a little against you, enjoying the warmth and closeness between you.  “Mm… It felt very weird not saying goodnight to you when I got into bed.”   You let each other go and he offered you an elbow as he looked down the farmer’s markets.  “Are we shopping for anything particularly?”  He asked.

“Just some fruit and veg.  There’s a place that does some really nice bread and I might get some cheese if it grabs my fancy.”  You answered.  “It usually does.”

He chuckled.  “It is hard to resist.”

He walked with you slowly down the rows, stopping when you saw something you needed and putting it in one of your shopping bags.  Steve loved how genuine this felt.  How real.  He carried one of your bags and stopped to try free samples, always particularly liking when it was something he hadn’t tried before.  While he had dated before, those people technically worked with him and they’d never just done something as mundane as grocery shopping before.  That on top of being out in the sun, in his city, the Flatiron building so close as well as being in view of both the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings.  He felt like a normal guy and he hadn’t felt like that in over 70 years.

“Can you talk about it?”  You asked.

The question didn’t surprise him.  He also couldn’t answer it.  It was all need to know and you were not need to know.  He gave you the answer he gave anyone who asked.  “The mission?  Not really I’m afraid.  It went as expected.  There was a firefight.  Minimal casualties.  None on our side.”

“You’re okay though?  I mean… you’re okay?”  You asked him.

He looked down into your eyes and saw the concern there.  He smiled softly both touched and hoping to reassure him.  “Yeah.  I’m okay.  We do what we have to.”   The sight of dozens of different chilis caught his eyes and he stopped to look at them.  “Look at all these peppers?  You think they’re hot?”

“Oh yeah.”  You answered.  “That one will burn a hole through your poor Irish tongue.”  You added pointing to the basket of wrinkly red ghost peppers.

He laughed touching his chest.  The fact you called back to his comment about his Irish parents touched him.  “Well, I don’t want that.”

“No.  How about instead we try all the different kinds of fruit butter in that stand there?”  You said taking a blueberry out of the punnet you’d bought and tossing it at him.  Your aim was terrible and while he did his best to compensate the berry just hit him in the cheek and bounced away.   “Hawkeye, I am not.”  You said as you both laughed.

“No.  If you were Clint, I’d probably be dead right now.  Would have choked on it.”  He replied as you moved to the next stall.

You chuckled.   “Well, just as well I’m no Hawkeye then.”  You said and lifted a popsicle stick with a scrape of apple butter up to his mouth.  He parted his lips and sucked the slightly tart apple butter from the stick as he gazed down at you.  His eyes traced your lips as he thought back to the day you had spent together.  How much he missed you while he was away.   This felt like it.  Now was the moment.  “What?”  You asked.

“I just… I really want to kiss you right now.”  He said.

“You should go with your gut.”  You replied.

He leaned down, hesitated for a moment and brought his lips to yours.


	5. Chapter 5

The kiss hadn’t lasted long, Steve had been very aware of his surroundings.  He had liked it though.  The way your lips had felt, soft and warm against his.  People always talked about a spark when you kissed the right person.  Steve wasn’t so sure about that.  It did make him feel warm though.  Almost like a hot coal was dropped into his stomach that sent out a radiant heat through the rest of him.

In the end, it had been one of those dates that he didn’t want to end.  He had wandered the markets with you, either hand in hand or with his arm around you, stopping and trying every single free sample there was.  After you’d exhausted the markets the two of you had grabbed lunch nearby and he dragged it out long as he could, before just going out and walking again.

Amongst your talk that ranged from your favorite snacks growing up to the state that the country was in politically right now, you had made plans.  You would have a redo of the dinner and movie date he had to miss due to the mission.

Unfortunately, the further in towards the center of midtown you got the more people stopped him to ask for photos or autographs.  You seemed to take it in your stride but Steve started to feel guiltier and guiltier and the stress over even the potential that you would realize you couldn’t handle this kind of lifestyle started to pick away at him.  He had walked you down to the subway and kissed you goodbye.  It was brief and chaste but that same warm feeling returned as your lips brushed over his.

He wasn’t too far from the tower and decided to jog back.  He was just getting inside when his phone buzzed.

He smiled and felt something in him relax that he wasn’t aware was tense.  The feeling like he was into this more than you were weighed him down a little.  It felt normal and for him and that was a big deal.  He hadn’t felt normal for a long time.  The closest he had come was when he met Sam and even that had been dipped in a conversation about how he wasn’t.  Going to the farmers market and shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables was probably the most normal thing he had done for over seventy years.  He worried that for you it wouldn’t be enough.

You didn’t reply right away, but before Steve even had a chance to worry he was waylaid by Sam.

“And where do you think you’ve been, young man?”  Sam said, tapping his wrist where his watch would be if he wore one.  He had an open bottle of orange juice in his hand and was leaning against the kitchen counter like he was trying to be stern.

“Sorry, Sam but the dad voice only works when you don’t drink juice straight from the bottle,”  Steve said taking the bottle from him and pouring himself a glass.

“Come on, man. How was it?  You’ve been gone most of the day.”  Sam said shoving Steve.

“It was good.  We had a nice time.”  Steve said.

“And?”  Sam pressed.

“And the Farmer’s Market is great.  Have you ever been?  We sampled so many things.  I hadn’t even seen half those vegetables before.  I thought it was just technology that had changed.”  Steve rambled.  He knew exactly what Sam wanted from him.  That didn’t mean he couldn’t drag it out on him.

“Cap, come on!”  Sam whined.

“What?”  Steve asked.

Sam groaned and rolled his eyes.  “Did you kiss her?  I want details!”

“Yeah, I did,”  Steve said.

Sam punched him in the arm.  “And?”

“And it was nice,”  Steve said.  “Just quick ones though.  Not… we didn’t…”

“That’s good, man,”  Sam said, clapping Steve on the shoulder.  “Keep moving forward.”

Steve’s phone buzzed and he looked down at it.

“That’s her isn’t it?”  Sam asked.

Steve nodded.  “How could you tell.”

“You have a smile.  It’s just for her.”  Sam said.  “You better answer her.”  He added, taking a swig straight from the bottle of juice.

Steve scratched his head and looked up at Steve.  Sam tilted his head and looked at him quizzically.  “What is it, man?”

“She just said she had too much food.  I said I’d come help eat and she said I should.”  Steve explained.  “Was that serious or was she just playing around?”

“Maybe both.  You know there’s a way to find out though right?”  Sam said.

Steve raised an eyebrow at him.  “How?”

Sam laughed and shook his head.  “You’re hopeless, you know?  Ask her.”

“Is tomorrow to soon to see her again?”  Steve asked.

“No, go see her,”  Bucky said coming into the room.

“Bucky, don’t you know the rules?”  Sam said.

Bucky rolled his eyes.  “Fuck the rules.  You think he hasn’t gone long enough without having someone?  If he wants to see her he should.”

“He doesn’t want to seem too needy,”  Sam argued.

“Oh, I’m sure it will be terrible to feel like someone needs you.  God forbid.”  Bucky snarked.

“I said lunch tomorrow,”  Steve said, interrupting their arguing.

“Fine.  Just don’t forget tomorrow night is the party.”  Sam said.

The after mission party had become tradition.  If a mission took a lot out of them, they got together to unwind.  It had become an important part of their de-compacting after stressful events.  “I would never forget the revels,”  Steve assured him.

That night he was quizzed by everyone about the date.  It was almost like they hadn’t been on a two-week long mission at all.  90% of the conversation seemed to involve the date.  How Steve felt about her and debate over whether he was moving too fast or too slow.  When he went to bed he texted you to tell you about how ridiculous they were all being.

Steve sighed contentedly and sunk back into the pillows.  The light blue glow of his phone the only real light source in the room.  He wanted you to know how he felt without scaring you.  Because he did feel strongly and it scared him a little.  A lot if he was going, to be honest.

The reciprocation of feelings made his heartbeat quicken.  He loved that you were so on the same page.  Yes, you weren’t rushing but it was good.  The speed fit both of you.  He didn’t have to worry he was going to slow.

He hummed and his hand went to his chest as he thought about what it felt like to have his arm around you and have your body pressed against him.  The way the warmth radiated from your body into him.

Steve chuckled.  He did like that little sarcastic streak you had.

The following morning started as usual.  On his run with Sam, Sam seemed to find it hilarious to pretend like he was a dad giving his son the sex talk.  Asking if he knew about protection.  Steve rolled his eyes and laughed it off.  When he got back to the tower he showered and sent you your good morning text and got dressed.  At around eleven, he grabbed a bottle of wine from the wine rack on the way out and made his way to your place.  When he came up the stairs and saw you waiting he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face.

“Hello again.”  He said.

“Hello again.”  You repeated, leaning up and kissing him.  The moment your lips touched on his it was like a small current passed through you.  Maybe this had just meant to have been a gentle peck, but it changed.  He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer and you wrapped yours around his neck.  The kiss was deep and tender.  A heat spread through his body as your lips slowly caressed each other’s.

He pulled back feeling a little lightheaded and like his nerve endings were all alright.  You looked up at him with hooded eyes.  “Wow.”  You breathed.

“You can say that again.”  He agreed.

You stepped out of the doorway and gestured for him to come in.  “Okay, so umm… lunch.

It took him a moment to realize what was happening.  Like he’d been sleeping and had woken up too early.  He shook his head to clear it.   “Right.  Yes,”  he said heading inside.

The two of you made yourselves plates from the food you’d prepared and sat down on the couch facing each other while you talked and ate.

You talked about anything and everything.  He loved that there didn’t seem to be topics that were out of bounds.  Even when either of you did touch on something you weren’t ready to tell the small awkward pause where only the minimum acceptable answer was given never lasted long and never felt dismissive.  It felt like a not yet, not a not ever.

After you’d both finished eating you’d put the plates on the coffee table and your hands had come into play.  He wrapped his arm around your shoulder drawing you in closer so he could feel the warmth of your body, and you had put a hand on his knee.  He’d liked how it felt and while he talked his eyes had flicked down to your lips.  He wanted to kiss them again.  He wanted more of what had happened at the door, so he had leaned in and brought his lips to yours.

The kiss started slowly but quickly progressed so that he was pressed down above you, kissing you hungrily.  His hand slid up your side as yours roamed his body.  Your tongues circled and swirled together and you nipped out at each other’s lips.  Even as the small moans escaped neither of you pushed for it to be anymore.  That alone made Steve feel more like he could really relax into it.

It wasn’t that Steve was a virgin.  He wasn’t.  It was more that people he had been with pushed for more before he was ready and he’d never felt like he’d gotten to sex on his own terms.  The fact you didn’t push made him feel more comfortable with it and he just allowed himself to kiss you and feel your body against his.

You kissed for almost an hour, only occasionally pulling back to gasp for air before starting up again.  When it finally slowed and then stopped, Steve nuzzled in against your neck with a contented sigh, feeling relaxed and happy and slightly fuzzy around the edges.  “I should probably get going.”  He whispered.  Not that he really wanted to, but there was the party and he did want to be there for it.

“Really?  You don’t have to.”  You said with a whine in your voice

“It’s getting late.”  He said pecking your lips and sitting up.

You put your hand on his knee and looked at him in the eye.  “No, I mean.  You can stay… over… If you want to.”

Steve shifted in his chair while he thought about how to tell you he wasn’t ready.  He felt that with anyone you would be the one that understood but he also felt terrible that you were already there and he wasn’t.  What if that was a dealbreaker for you?  He didn’t think it was, but he didn’t want to hurt your feelings or have you think he was less of a man because he needed time.  “I - uh - please don’t be offended.  But…”  He took a deep breath steeling himself in case you took it badly.   “I need… more.  Before… It’s not you.  Just…” He babbled. “Besides, the team are having drinks.  We do it after every big mission.”

You got up with him and hugged him.  “Of course.  It’s totally fine, Steve.  We can take as much time as you need.”

“You sure?  I sometimes feel like there’s something wrong with me.  The others always have people over and here I am just wanting someone to connect to.”  He apologized.

“There’s nothing wrong with it at all.  In fact, there’s a name for it.”  You said as you rubbed his back.

“There is?”  He asked.

“Mm-hmm.  A couple.  Depends on what it is you’re feeling really.  Demisexual or grey-asexual.”  You answered.

“Huh.”  He said.  There was a name for it.  The thought made him suddenly feel like a light bulb went off inside of him.  It wasn’t just that he didn’t get relationships or was too slow.  He decided he’d read up about it as soon as he could.

You smiled and pecked his lips.  “So don’t sweat it.  I’ll be here.  No pressure.  You’ll know when you know.”

“Thank you.  This was good.  We’re still on for Friday?”  He asked.

“Of course we are.  Making out in the cinema is the best cliche of all.”  You teased.

He felt his cheeks flushed and leaned in, kissing you softly. “I’ll text you on the train.”  He said, pulling away and heading to the door.

You grinned at him. “I should hope so.”


	6. Chapter 6

Steve had gone home mulling over your words.  The thought that there were people who identified the same way as him.  That him needing time wasn’t some strange thing and it even had a name.  It was like something was poised to click into place.  It had been the same when he had realized that being attracted to both men and women was normal.  All his life he had grown up being told the rather awful rules; there were normal people and there were gays.  Normal was man and woman and anything else was not acceptable.  Given he had liked both he was never sure where he fit and assumed he must be ‘normal’ because he did like women.

When Sam had told him things weren’t always black and white and he could be with whoever he wanted to be with it.  That liking more than one gender was normal and had a name.  Hell, it had more than one name and he could use either or none as long as he was happy.  Things had shifted into place for him.  He claimed a part of who he was and he stopped being scared of it.

This revelation had felt like that a little and he hoped that knowing this new part of himself would get him a little closer to the happiness that he thought he was always going to be denied because he didn’t adhere to the rules properly.

He had gone home and put it aside.  There was an after mission party after all.  It was time to relax and be with his friends.

“How was the date, man?” Sam asked as Steve grabbed himself a beer.

As if he had an alert on to tell him that it was time to embarrass Steve, Tony sidled up as if out of nowhere.  “Yeah, Cap.  You were gone a long time.  Just ‘hanging’ at home.”  He said making air quotes around the word hanging.  “You get a little bit of…”  He made a circle with his thumb and index finger and poked the index finger on his other hand in and out of it.

“You need to stop hanging out with Wade Wilson,”  Bucky said.

Tony laughed and clapped Bucky on the shoulder before stepping behind the bar.  “God, please.  Please, let me hang out with Wade Wilson less.”  He said and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured two glasses, pushing one to Bucky.  “That doesn’t answer my question though.”

“No, Tony.  We didn’t.  But I promise as soon as we do I’ll be right on the phone to tell you.”  Steve snarked.

“Oh, the old Rogers sass.  I see how it is.”  Tony said, grinning and taking a sip of his Scotch.

“The date was good.  We kissed.  A lot.”  Steve said, shaking his head.

“How very high school,”  Natasha said.  “I mean I assume.  I didn’t go to high school.”

“Alright.  Alright.  Have we had our fun?”  Steve asked.

“No.  I think there’s gonna be a lot more of that over the night.”  Tony teased.

He wasn’t wrong.  They teased him for being too slow pretty consistently over the course of the night.  He took it in his stride as he usually did.  You were happy and he was happy and that’s what mattered.

Over the next few days he studied up on what you told him and decided that yes, he was demisexual.  It fit him perfectly.  He had always said he was waiting for the right person and when he’d rushed it in the past it had felt wrong.

Steve Rogers was a lot of things that fit him and told people who he was.  Captain America.  Nomad.  World War II vet.  Avenger.  Artist.  Friend.  And among the list that fit in varying degrees and situations, he was a bisexual demisexual man and that fit him too.

Steve chuckled.  He loved your sense of humor and that you both spoke so much that his huge revelation just fell into the mix with everything else.  That to you, it made no difference.  You were happy getting to know him.

He smiled, though the worry was still there.  He didn’t want you to go without.  Just because that was him, didn’t mean it was you.  If you weren’t getting what you needed from the relationship then what was keeping you in it?

Steve chuckled at your sass.  Of course, he would find himself with someone that wouldn’t take his shit.  It’s who he surrounded himself with.

He felt himself blush but his heart ached for you.  It was hard to be with an Avenger.  Too many partners had given up on it because of that struggle.  He didn’t want that for you but he wasn’t going to sabotage what could be good because he thought he knew what was best for you.

So the two of you dated and Steve relaxed not worrying if he was being too slow or not.  He let himself trust himself and trusted that you would tell him if things were off with you.  Over the month you did a variety of dates.  Dinner and movie where he kissed you goodbye at the door.  He met you at the farmer’s markets twice more.  He loved doing that.  The absolute normalness of it.  The first time he’d bought lunch for you.  The second time he’d gone back home with you and you made lunch for him.  He loved that one best of all.  It was so domestic and normal.  It felt like a promise of things he could have if he just relaxed and let them.  One night you had made dinner for him and on another, you’d gone to see Hamilton with him.  He was still a little perplexed by it but he was leaning to liking it.  Maybe?   His taste in music definitely didn’t run in line with what it was doing but the overall play itself was… good?

There had been three makeout sessions and with each one he felt more and more comfortable with the physical side.  A little more willing to go that little bit further.  No.  Willing wasn’t the word.  He had the urge to go further.  He wasn’t just being taken along on the ride, he was steering it with you.  So as he moved from kissing to groping to grinding against you he also felt closer to that point that this might be real and you might be the one.

There was just one thing.  You should really meet the people in his life.  Until he had blended the two worlds together it would never really be real.

He was over your side of town cutting the ribbon on a new homeless shelter when he decided that given he was so close it might be nice to drop in.  He finished shaking peoples hands and pulled out his phone.

He smiled to himself and tucked his phone away heading towards your place.  On the way, he drew looks and the occasional ‘Cap’ nodded to him as he passed but people left him alone.  He stopped at a deli around the corner from your apartment and picked up some bagels with cream cheese and lox before continuing his journey to your apartment.

You spent the day just being together with no more motivation than that.  After breakfast, you’d tried to watch movies together.  Although you never quite made it all the way through before getting into a session of heavy petting.

You’d then had lunch together and spent the rest of the afternoon talking.  He felt good and he knew he wanted this.  He wanted you to spend time with him in the Tower.  He wanted you to finally meet everyone.

“Today has been good.”  Steve hummed as he ghosted his lips over your neck.

“It has been.”  You agreed and tilted your head back, bringing your lips to his.

The two of you had already kissed so much, he would have thought he’d be bored of it by now.  He wasn’t.  Each time it happened he couldn’t help but deepen it and push for more.  He guided you back on the couch and moved his thigh between yours.  He pressed it against your cunt and you began to grind against it.  The action sent a little tingle down his spine that pooled in his groin.  It spurred him on to do more.  He ran his hand up under your shirt for the first time and he cupped your breast.  He loved the weight of hit against his palm and he gave it a squeeze and rolled your nipple between his thumb and index finger.

The mewling sound you made when he did, made his cock jump and begin to harden.  The fact your fingers dug into his back and he could feel your skin heat up below him added to it.  He cock hardened and strained against his pants and for the first time, he felt he actually wanted to have sex.  This wasn’t the moment, he knew that.  He didn’t want it to just be a throwaway experience with you on the couch, but he did want it and if he didn’t stop now he didn’t think you would stop him either.

He pulled back and looked down at you.   “Do you mind if we stop?”

You shook your head.  “That was…”

He nodded and kissed you softly.  He knew exactly where you were going and he felt exactly the same.  “Yeah.  I know.”  He sat up and you curled into him.  “You’re sure you’re still okay with waiting?”

“Yes.  Of course, Steve.  I mean that… that was… I’m probably going to have to take care of myself later.”  You said.

He chuckled and blushed sheepishly, feeling quite guilty that he’d let it go so far when he hadn’t intended it to go all the way.  “I’m sorry.  I got a little carried away.”

“It’s okay.  I still liked it.”  You sat up and put your hands on his chest.  “Hungry?  Wanna eat?  I can cook or we can go out?”

“Let’s cook.”  He said getting up.  His erection was painfully obvious and yet he didn’t feel as embarrassed as he thought he should have been.  He knew it would go away and he also knew you were feeling your own version of it.

He went to the kitchen and pulled out some pans as you went to the fridge.  It was now or never.  “I was thinking,”  He said.  “Are you busy this Friday?”

“No.  What did you have in mind?”  You asked.

“I thought you might like to come meet some of my friends.  The tower has what Tony likes to call a party deck.  We can have drinks.  Some food.  What do you think?”  He said.

You stopped what you were doing and turned to look at him.  “Isn’t that like the equivalent of meeting the parents for you?”

He raised an eyebrow at you.  You were right.  They were his family.  As close as he had.  Or really ever had.  This was a big deal to him because this was a close to that taking your girlfriend home to meet your parents as he was ever going to get.  “Yeah.  Yes.  I think it might be.  Would you be okay with that?”

You smiled and him and moved into his arms, hugging him around the waist.  “Yes.  I’m totally ready to meet your family.”


	7. Chapter 7

A calm had washed over Steve since he invited you to meet the rest of the Avengers.  He still had those little doubts.  The prevailing feeling that he didn’t get to have this.  The wife, kids, white picket fence.  He couldn’t help but think that those were the happy ending meant for people who weren’t him.  He worried that his life wasn’t compatible with that life and that even if you and he hit it off, you wouldn’t be able to handle it.  Not when it got down to the nitty gritty of it.

What he wasn’t doubting was the person you were and what you had with each other.  He trusted you.  He liked being with you.  He missed you when he wasn’t.  He liked you.  No, it was stronger than like.

He remembered what it had been like falling for Peggy.  The slow gradual build up from friends.  How deeply and completely in love he was by in the end.  Two years he had known her and let that grow.  Even after just these few months, he could feel the same thing with you.

He was excited for you to meet the others.  For them to get to see for themselves what he saw in you.  For them to give you their approval even.  Not that he needed that, but it would be nice.  He also had no doubts they’d give it.  He knew they would love you because he did.

“This Friday?”  Tony asked, bringing up a calendar on one of the holographic screens he had built into the coffee table.

“Yeah, I thought we could have drinks.  Something casual?”  Steve said.

Tony moved some things around on the calendar and then began typing.  “Casual yes.  Dinner though.  We should feed the poor woman.  I’ll get it catered.”

“You don’t need to do that, Tony,”  Steve said.

Sam snorted.  “Yeah, there’s no changing his mind.”

“No, there isn’t.”  Tony agreed.  “I don’t think you’ve ever brought someone here to meet.  It’s a big deal.”

Steve sighed.  “Alright.  But casual.”

Tony clapped him on the shoulder.  “Of course, Cap.  You know me.”

It was the first time he’d used a term of endearment.  It wasn’t even a conscious thing and he looked down at this screen and panicked for a moment that you were going to reject it.

While Steve was relaxed you seemed to be freaking out a little.  You were sending panicky text messages at odd times of the day.

Steve looked at the message while he sat at his desk, confused as to what it actually meant.

He chuckled.  Of course, you meant with them.  It made sense you would think dinner with Tony Stark would be black tie.  It was what he wore anytime he was seen somewhere.

He received panicked messages from you on a few other occasions.  If you needed to bring anything if there were topics you should avoid.  He wished there was something he could say that would help you relax.  What he really wanted was to hold you in his arms and kiss you.  To give you some physical comfort to go with the words.

Unfortunately, Avenging took time and he, as well as being in and out of town all week and doing an immense amount of paperwork, had to field questions about menu options and dietary restrictions and favorites foods.

A week wasn’t long though and he knew once you got here and met them and got to see that they were really just normal people, you would relax and things could move forward for the two of you.

The day of the dinner Steve spent most of it in the office going through intel and assigning agents to various leads.  He showered as soon as he was done for the day and dressed down.  Just his usual tan pants and a dark blue, button-up shirt.  He kept it loose at the neck and rolled up the sleeves to add to the casual feel of the outfit.

He went to the party deck.  Tony was already there with Pepper, directing staff and double checking the bar was stocked.  “Hey, Cap.  You nervous?”

Steve shrugged one shoulder.  “No.  Not at all.  You’ll love her.”

“I’m sure we will,”  Pepper agreed.  “She sounds lovely.”

“Things are all on schedule.  We’ll be all set up to grill her.”  Tony teased.

“Go easy on her, okay?  She’s not used to any of this.”  Steve said.  He went behind the bar and grabbed himself a beer.  He drank out of habit more than anything.  It did nothing for him except made him feel like he fit in more.  Which was reason enough, really.

“She will be by the time I’m done.”  Tony teased.

Steve went and sat by the window and gradually everyone else trickled in, joining him with their own drinks.  Exactly at seven, FRIDAY announced you were on your way up.  Steve got up and headed to the elevators to meet you.

The doors opened and you stepped out.  He could see how nervous you were just by looking.  You held yourself stiff and your fingers tapped nervously on your thigh.  He leaned down and kissed your cheek.  “Hey, right on time.”

You laughed.  It was a slightly unnatural sound and it made him want to pull you into his arms and kiss you all over.  He was very aware of the others watching and he knew he wouldn’t hear the end of it.   “Anxiety makes me be on time.”  You said.

He took both your hands in his and looked down into your eyes hoping that that action would ground you here with him.   “Hey.  It’s me and my friends.  It’s not that big of a deal, sweetheart.”

“They’re your family.”  You whispered.

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around your waist.  “Come on.  Let’s get it over with.  Right off.  Like a band-aid.”

He took you over and everyone stood as he introduced you, shaking your hand and exchanging hellos.  They all sat and you took a seat beside Bucky.  Steve sat beside you putting his arm around along the back of the couch behind you in the hope it would be comforting to you.  It appeared to work because you pressed yourself a little tighter against him and your body softened as you let yourself relax.  Tony offered you a drink and as he went to get it the questioned started up.

“It’s about time we met,”  Sam said.

“It sure is.  I guess I have you to thank, huh?”  You answered.  Steve wondered if you’d rehearsed it.

“Tell you what, first kid is named Sam, okay?”  Sam teased.

You laughed in response but Steve felt you tense up again.  He wondered if it was general nerves or the topic of the joke.  He rubbed your arm up and down and rolled his eyes.  “We’ll be sure to.”  He shot back.  He would have said it anyway, but he wanted you to know jokes like that didn’t bother him.  He was in this with you.  Jokes about marriage and kids weren’t going to scare him off.

“So tell us about yourself,”  Tony said, coming back and handing you your drink.

As soon as Tony sat down the interrogation began.  Steve kept his hand on you and brushed off any questions that seemed too intrusive.  Though everyone was being quite well behaved honestly.  They did seem to genuinely just want to get to know the woman Steve was falling for.  You told them about family and your childhood.  Your hobbies and your job.  The more you talked the more relaxed you became.  Soon everyone just started talking naturally and it felt right.  Like home.  His home and you belonged in it too.

After dinner, the group got up and spread out.  Making cocktails, playing pool. Fighting over what music got put on the PA.

Bucky and Tony cornered him while you had gone to the bar alone.  “She has the seal of approval, Cap.  We like her.”  Tony said.

“I like you with her,”  Bucky added.  “You’re more relaxed.  You’re never relaxed.”

“I like being with her,”  Steve said.  “I think she might be the one, you know?”

Bucky’s eyes went wide and Tony clapped him on the shoulder.  “That’s big.  You really think that?”  Tony said.

Steve nodded.  “Well, you know me.  I worry about this.”  He said gesturing around the room.  “It’s a lot for someone else to take on, and she’s so far removed from it.  Maybe she won’t be able to handle it.  But she has the potential to be it anyway.”

Bucky laughed.  “I will never get how you can jump out of a plane without thinking about it but when it comes to girls you do nothing but overthink it?”

Steve shrugged.  “Everyone has their thing I guess.”

Across the room, Sam laughed loudly and Steve glanced over to see him talking to you.  He watched as your body language changed as Sam laughed harder and harder.  While you didn’t look uncomfortable, you definitely looked embarrassed.

“Go on.  Rescue her from Sam then.  We know you want to.”  Tony said.

Steve nodded and headed over to the bar, as he approached, Sam doubled over laughing.  “Holy shit!  Does Steve know?”

“No!  I didn’t know how to tell him.”  You said sounding mortified.

“Tell me what?”  Steve asked as he came up behind you.

“Oh god, man.  This is so good.  Tell him…”  Sam said clutching at Steve.

You groaned and dragged you hand down your face.  Steve looked at you puzzled.  “What is it?”

“So,”  You said.  “When you super liked me on Tinder, I thought it was just a fake account.”

Steve furrowed his brow.  It made sense.  Celebrities probably didn’t use dating apps too often and people probably faked them to try and scam people.  It obviously didn’t last long, you’d talked for months going along with it.  “I - I guess that makes sense.  It would be pretty weird to have Captain America be on Tinder.  There’s probably a lot of fake accounts.”

“Keep going,”  Sam said nudging you.

“Oh god,”  You groaned.  “So, then we were talking.  And I thought you were just someone pretending to be you.  Like we were playing a game.  I was taking like me, but I thought you were faking it.”

“You what?”  Steve asked, really shocked this time.  He knew you’d been honest with him, nothing you had told him didn’t line up with what he knew now, but the fact that you had just been playing a game the whole time was shocking.

“Tell him who you thought he might be?”  Sam wheezed.

“I thought you were probably a 17-year-old girl.”  You said hiding your face in his chest.

He rubbed your back while he considered everything.  What the fact you thought he was fake really meant.  If it affected things now.  Did it mean you were lying to him at all?  He suddenly remembered how when you had arranged to meet you’d asked how you’d know it was him.  “That’s why you asked how you’d recognize me.”

“Yes.”  You answered

He laughed and kissed the top of your head.  It all made so much sense and it was kind of funny really.  Besides no one had lied.  He knew you and he liked you.  That’s was what mattered.  “This explains so much.”

You looked up at him from your spot on his chest.  “You aren’t mad?”

“No. It’s not like it changed anything in the end.  We get along now you know right?”  He said.

“Yeah.  I like to think so.”  You agreed and leaned up and kissed him.

As the night drew to an end Steve was feeling better about things than he ever had.  It was you.  He was ready.  He wanted to make it special though.  Maybe a weekend away.  He wanted to say the words he was feeling in his heart.

Tony called a car to come and get you at around midnight and Steve accompanied you down to the garage.  He stood with you pressed against him in the elevator as you played with the collar of his shirt.

“I thought of you as my boyfriend today.”  You said, leaning in and ghosting your lips over his neck.

Your breath tickled his skin and he tilted his head to the side and pulled you a little closer.  “Is that not what I am?”

“I hope so.  We hadn’t talked about it.”  You said.

“I definitely think about you as my girlfriend.”  He said.

You leaned up and kissed him.  It was slow and deep and a little sloppy thanks to how much you’d been drinking.  He could taste the alcohol and the mixture of flavors from the cocktails you’d been drinking over the night.

As the doors to the elevator opened he pulled back and walked you into the garage.  Happy waited at a black town car and he rolled his eyes when he saw the two fo you.  Steve stopped you just as you approached the car.  “Thank you for coming.  I hope you had fun.”

“I really did.  I really like your friends, Steve.”  You replied.

“And I really like you.”  He said and kissed you again.

Happy cleared his throat and Steve looked up at him sheepishly, he’d forgotten that Happy could keep up with Tony on the sarcasm front.  “Sorry, Happy.  She’s all yours.”  He held onto your hand as you climbed in and leaned in and pecked your lips again.  “Text me when you’re home.”

“Of course, honey.”  You replied.  “I wouldn’t forget that.”


	8. Chapter 8

Steve was in love.  He knew he was.  He had felt it once before.  It didn’t exactly end well the first time.  His fault maybe?  He didn’t really allow for a lot of debate about the pros and cons of slamming that plane into the Arctic Ocean.  Still, he had known it then and he knew it now.

He felt better when he was with you than when he wasn’t.  Not that he couldn’t exist without you.  That wasn’t it at all.  It wasn’t codependent he was feeling.  It was just with you, he relaxed.  He knew even when you were both having a bad day, that when you were together it didn’t feel as bad.  He loved how you got him and he loved how normal you were.  Getting to hear about your day was one of the things he looked forward to at the end of his.  He could envision a life with you.  That scared him, but it was still there.  All the things he had given up on.  Marriage.  A home.  Children.  With you, he could see it all.

Now he just had to figure out how to say it.

The first time he thought he felt it was over something so small.  He had been in the kitchen with you, helping make dinner and messed up and you had laughed.  It had been so genuine and pure and lacking in malice and the words and nearly slipped out right then and there even though he was still unsure if that’s what it was.

He knew for sure the time he came back from a mission and all he wanted was to curl up in your arms.  He had texted you to see if you were up for a visit and was greeted by you with a night of watching old movies snuggled up on the couch and a small array of comfort foods you’d ordered in.  It had been so thoughtful and exactly what he needed.  The fact you had just been able to read him like that made his heart hurt.  He just hoped that you were getting the same things from him in the relationship because the way you got him and were there for him made him love you so much.

He didn’t say it then though.  He wasn’t really sure why.  Nerves maybe?  It felt like such a lot to lose if he said it too soon and you didn’t feel the same way.  After that, he seemed to never be able to find the right moment.  He felt like it should be perfect.  Which, quite frankly was frustrating as hell.  He’d told other people not to waste time, to say how they feel.  Yet here he was, stuck in a loop and the longer he went without saying it, the more perfect it needed to be.

“You’re an idiot.   You know that right?”  Sam said taking a long drink from the beer he was nursing and shaking his head.

“I’m with, Sam.  Just tell her.”  Bucky agreed.

“I know, I know.  I just… I want her to feel special when I say it.  I want to do something for her.  She’s always doing things for me.”  Steve said.

“You’re overthinking it, man,” Sam said.  “You gotta stop sabotaging your happiness.  This is it.  Be happy.”

“I know… I know…” Steve groaned.  “I don’t know why I’m like this.”

“Why don’t you take her away for a weekend?  Go upstate or something?”  Bucky suggested.

Steve chewed the inside of his cheek as he considered it.  The two of you still hadn’t had sex either was the problem.  He knew he was ready though, he just wanted to say the words first.  A weekend away could be just the thing that got him out of his head.  It would be special and just the two of you.

“That’s a really good idea.” He agreed.

The next time he saw you he proposed a trip and the two of you had worked it out together.  You would drive up to Vermont and stay in a bed and breakfast.  He would spend the day with you and have a romantic dinner and tell you exactly what you meant to him

Then HYDRA happened.  They had made a direct attack on a chemicals manufacturer in China and the Avengers had been called in.  As they rushed to get their stuff together Steve texted you.

Your reply hurt.  He knew you had been looking forward to it.  He hated that his life meant thing like this could be so easily taken away from you.

Steve burst into laughter making Clint look over at him with his head tilted.  Steve shook his head and pointed at the door.  Clint huffed and grabbed his bow before heading out the door.

Steve frowned and grabbed his shield.  You were always going to worry about him.  He knew that.  He knew all he could do was try and be present when you were together and reassure you when he wasn’t around that he would be okay and come home to you.

  


The mission was pretty straightforward.  It would take a few days though.  People had been killed when the hit was made, chemicals were stolen.  The operation had been sloppy though and tracking them down wasn’t going to take too long.  Rhodey, Nat and Clint had gone to follow leads while the rest of the team took turns running comms and sleeping.

It wasn’t so bad really.  This was a fully sanctioned mission by both the Chinese Government, the UN and the company that had been hit.  They were staying in a nice hotel.  It wasn’t with you, but it wasn’t a moth-eaten mattress on the floor of some dilapidated building either.

When it was Steve’s shift to sleep he took off his uniform and slipped into bed in just his boxers with his phone in his hand.  He checked the time.  It was quite late in New York and he worried about waking you.  The urge to talk was strong though and besides, he knew you would worry if you didn’t hear anything.

He closed his eyes and thought about what he should be doing right now.  Right now the two of you should be sharing a bed.  Maybe you would have made love for the first time.  Maybe you would be now.  The thought of you wrapped in his arms, your head resting on his chest tugged at him.

He sighed.  Of course, you knew that’s what he had planned.  He was ruining things all over again.  You had been so patient with him.  So understanding.  How long could that possibly last if on top of his own Demisexuality you had to deal with HYDRA pulling you apart too?

  


God, how he wanted to just go straight to you after this.  To take you in his arms.  To stop overthinking all of this.  It wasn’t fair to you.  The two of you had made plans.  It was going to be romantic and special and it was going to mean something.  He didn’t want the first time with you to just be some throwaway thing.  He wanted the romance.  He wanted to make it count because you had understood him and had waited for him.

  


A tingle spread through Steve’s body starting in his scalp.  It was almost like the ghost of your lips had touched him simply by reading the words.  That spot did do things to him too.  He ran his fingertips over it, feeling the slow steady beat of his pulse.

Steve stared at the screen not sure what to say.  He knew what you wanted.  Yes, he was born in a time well before texting was a thing let along sexting.  He didn’t live in a bubble though.  He just had never done it and he didn’t know what exactly you said in times like this.  He typed something and deleted it only to type it again.  He kept looking at the words and thinking they seemed too forward or too ridiculous.  He stopped and closed his eyes taking a breath and picturing you on the couch with him.  What he would do if you were together kissing like you did on so many occasions.

Steve faltered and his cock twitched.  The two of you had never spoken like this in person and he wasn’t exactly sure how to handle it.  The thought of your cunt dripping as you ground up against his leg made his thighs tense and his cock start to harden.  He wondered if you were telling the truth though or just trying to give him something.

Steve let out a sharp breath and palmed his cock through his boxers.  The thought of your fingers wrapped around it send a shudder through him and made his abs tighten.  His cock hardened as he imagined what he’d do to you too.  How as you stroked him, he could be the one touching you.  That it was his fingers making you feel these things.

  


Steve groaned again.  He spat on his palm and slipped his hand into his boxers.  He rolled his palm over the head of his cock, gathering up the precome and using it as a lubricant.  So when his fingers wrapped around his girth, his palm slid easily up and down his shaft.  He bucked up slightly in his hand and closed his eyes for a second and just thought about you.  Your hand stroking him and the feel of your cunt squeezing around his digits.

Steve’s hips bucked and precome leaked over his knuckles, seeping through his boxers.  His breath had started to come in shallow and all he could think about was what it would be like to be inside you, with your body flush against him, moving together.

  


He moved his hand faster picturing you back in your own bed, naked and pleasuring yourself to the thought of him.  Your fingers fucking deep inside you a thin sheen of sweat over your body and your breasts rising and falling as you panted with your approaching orgasm.  Shivers ran up his spine and a pressuring pushed down in his abs as his own orgasm approached.  With a groan and a tightening of his balls he came, hot come spilling over his hand and stomach and staining his boxer shorts.

He took a moment to come down, his body relaxing as endorphins flooded his system.  He heard the phone chime with a message from you and he picked it up.

  


Steve got up to clean himself up.  You amazed him.  The fact you affected him like that without even being there meant something.  He was going to stop overthinking this.  He loved you.  It was time you heard it.


	9. Chapter 9

The Chinese mission had taken a week to clean up in the end.  HYDRA had been relatively easy to track down.  It was more the legal stuff that kept there the whole week.  A week wasn’t so bad in the end.  Especially when he was able to text you every day.

Even more so when the texts had turned sexual on two more of those times.  He had surprised himself really.  He knew about sexting before.  It just had never sounded like something he would really be in to.  After that first time, he realized he liked it.  A lot.  He initiated those two times. Asking what you were wearing.  What you would do with him if he was there.

What really stuck with him wasn’t so much how sexy it was or how hot it felt doing it.  It wasn’t how hard it made him thinking about you doing the things in your messages.  Nor how when he came he gasped your name.  It was that you made him feel comfortable enough to do that.  That speaking to you not only did he desire you but you got him out of his head enough that he didn’t feel foolish saying those things to you.

All the things he thought he needed to be perfect to say the words and make the move were unnecessary.  He didn’t need a weekend away and a fancy meal.  He just needed you there with him.  Maybe it would never be completely perfect, but at the same time, it would exactly right because it was you.  For him, you were perfect.

He decided that he was just going to go and see you as soon as he got home and tell you he loved you.  He’d waited long enough.

The flight home was long even with the fact it was via the Quinjet.  They arrived by mid-morning, exhausted but needing to debrief and file paperwork.  Before they assembled in the conference room, Steve had to message you to let you know he was safe and more importantly that he needed to see you.

Your message came through at the same time as he sent his.  It startled him a little but a broad smile broke out on his face.  He loved how you were thinking the same thing as he was.  He imagined a time in the future where that wouldn’t even be said.  He would finish his debrief and come straight home to you.

He thought about it for a moment.  Taking you out to a nice restaurant and saying the words to you felt like a nice thing to do on paper.  It wasn’t the relationship you’d grown together though.  It wasn’t what the liked most about being with you.  Besides he had eaten out for every meal this week and a home cooked meal sounded like heaven.

A very quick series of comfort foods flashed through his mind.  His mom’s meatloaf.  Potatoes, roasted and mashed.  Mac and Cheese.  Pizza.  Pasta.  Freshly baked bread.  He wasn’t sure what exactly to ask for, but there did seem to be a theme.

You didn’t answer for a bit so he assumed work had come up.  He was just putting it in his pocket when it buzzed again.

He smiled.  He had missed you too.  It was strange though.  That feeling was normally associated with such dark things.  He missed his mother.  Peggy.  The Howlies.  He had missed Bucky.  There were some days he stilled missed him.  At least the person he had used to be.  Not that he wasn’t thankful every day he’d come back.  Still that feeling of melancholy over the things they had lost would hit from time to time.  Missing you was different.  You were here waiting and there was almost an excitement to the feeling.  He missed you and soon he would be with you.

He put his phone away and headed into the conference room.  Thankfully it was relatively brief.  Everyone ran through the chain of events as they saw it.  They assessed if there were any mistakes made or areas they could be more efficient.  Appointments were made with therapists.  They had become mandatory at least after missions and had been helpful to the team, to say the least.  After that, he had run through things again with Maria.  Each filling the other in on loose ends regarding the mission.

Finally, after all that was done, he went and had a shower.  He stayed under the hot water for a while and let it wash off everything from the past week.  As the hot water relaxed his tense muscles he consciously let go of Captain America, so that he could come to you just as Steve with none of his baggage.

After his shower he put on some jeans and a white shirt, shrugging his leather jacket on over it. He grabbed a couple of condoms from his bathroom and slipped them in his pocket.  He wouldn’t be disappointed if you didn’t want to have sex yet, but if you wanted it, he wanted to be ready.  He was ready after all.

While he was on the subway to your place he was asked to take photos and chatted with a few people on the way.  There were days where that got to him.  Not today though.  He took it all in his stride.

When he arrived, you buzzed him up and he took the stairs two at a time to get up to your apartment.  As soon as he saw you he couldn’t help but smile.  You were dancing on your toes and you grinned, rushed over to him and launched yourself into his waiting arms.  He caught you without thinking, and spun you.  His lips crashed into yours and he kissed you hungrily.  He loved you, and needed you, and wanted you.  He had missed you and worried about you.  All of that he poured into that kiss.

He pulled back gently and leaned his forehead against yours, breathing in the scent of you.  “I need to tell you something.”  He whispered.

“Me too.”  You replied.

“I love you.”

You spoke the words as one.  It startled him for a moment.  He couldn’t ever remember being so fully on the same page as another person.  He smiled softly and kissed you.  This was the moment.  He needed you.  He had made you wait far too long and he wouldn’t do it any longer.  He lifted you up and you let out a surprised yelp.  When your legs were wrapped around his waist he carried you inside, kicking the door closed behind him.

When he reached the bedroom he let you down on the bed and caressed your cheek.  “Is this okay?”   He asked.

“If this is the moment, it’s perfect, Steve.”

It felt like his heart was about to burst with the love he had for you.  There was no need to rush this.  It had taken so long to get to this point, now he was here with you, he could take his time.  Make it count.  He leaned in and kissed you.  Tenderly and slowly.  Savoring the feel of your lips against his.

He ran his hands up your side and cupped your breast as you unfastened his pants.  His cock was hardening already just from the kiss.  When you began to stroke it up and down it sent a shiver through him, and he moaned softly against your lips.

He pulled back, taking his shirt off and tossing it aside and as he did you ran your tongue up his shaft.  The wet warm pressure of your tongue on his cock made it jump and he groaned, his hands going to your hair without him even thinking about it.  When you wrapped your lips around the head of his cock, his abs tightened and he let out a guttural groan.  It had been a while since he had been with anyone, and he forgot how good it felt.  The intimacy alone was something he missed, but the way your mouth felt, the pressure it gave sent sparks through him.  He groaned.  Deep and guttural.  As he did you dropped your head down, deep throating him.

He kept his eyes on you, watching you as your bobbed up and down on his cock.  Making yourself gag and then pulling back sucking hard.  He couldn’t keep quiet.  It was like a lump of hot coal had been dropped into his gut and was pushing down on him.  Every move you made sent tendrils of pleasure through him.  The way you looked with your lips wrapped around his cock was so sexy to him.

As he relaxed more into the sensation his hands began to roam.  He stroked your jaw and ran them down your neck to your chest.  He cupped your breasts and as you moaned in pleasure, he gained more confidence.  He massaged them and teased your nipples.

He could feel himself being drawn closer to the edge of climax and he put his hands on your jaw and pulled back, before leaning down and kissing you deeply.  “My turn,”  He said and pulled your dress up over your head.

You smiled up at him and he took a moment to drink you in before bringing his lips to yours.  Without breaking the kiss he guided you back on the bed.  He ground down against you.  His cock pressing against your pussy through your panties.  The wetness from your arousal had seeped through the fabric and he could feel it against his cock.  It made the need to taste you stronger.  He began crawling down your body, kissing a trail as he went.  He paused for a moment at your breasts, nipping at your nipples through the fabric.  Loving the way they hardened for him.  He didn’t linger though.  The thought of his mouth on your pussy called to him.  As he moved lower he pulled your panties off and tossed them aside.  The smell of your cunt was inviting him in.  He ran the tip of his nose up your pussy, inhaling deeply.  It made his cock jump and he needed to taste you.  His tongue flicked out, just sampling the tart flavor of you before he flattened his tongue and ran it up the length of your folds.

You hummed and raised your hips to meet him and he smiled and swirled the point of his tongue over your clit.  He loved how you tasted.  Acidic and salty sweet. It reminded him of fruit and being by the seaside.  He started to lap at you, trying to drink up all he could get.  Your hips bucked under him and you moaned.  “Oh, god, yes, Steve.”

That only made him want more.  The little positive feedback like he was on the right track, that you wanted this as much as he did spurred him on.  His cock ached to be inside you but all he could focus on was using his mouth.  He hummed and pushed two fingers inside of you, curling them and spreading them inside of you.  Drawing out more of your fluids that he drank up hungrily.  When he twisted his wrist you gasped and he felt your body shudder around him.  He focused on the spot his knuckles had touched and began stroking it with the pads of his fingers, dragging them over the spongy spot inside you as he sucked on your clit.

It was like you lost all control.  Your hips bucked and you cried out.  He kept going, groaning as your pussy squeezed his fingers and your cunt dripped down his wrist.  With a sudden cry, your whole body seized and arched up under him.  He continued to stroke you, slowing his movements and drinking you up.

When he felt your body settle he climbed back up your body and pulled a condom out of his pocket.

“This is what you were coming for, huh?”  You teased.

He could feel the heat rise to his cheeks and he nuzzled into your neck feeling sheepish.  “Not for.  Just… hoped it would lead to it.”

You put your hands on his jaw and guided him back up so he was looking into your eyes.  “I hoped so too.”

It was what he needed to ground himself.  He kissed you again and tried to get the condom packet open.  He fumbled for a moment before you took it off him and nudged him to roll over.  He smiled taking the hint and grabbed your hips rolling you both over so you were straddling his lap.

He ran his hands over your bare skin, taking the time to appreciate how you looked as you tore open the packet.  Your skin glistening with sweat and your hair messy.  “God, you’re beautiful.”  He sighed.

You bit your bottom lip and rolled the condom down over his cock. “You aren’t too bad yourself, Rogers.”

He laughed reaching up and pulling you down into a kiss as his hands bunched into your hair.  As he kissed you deeply, you slowly lowered yourself down on his cock.  He let you take your time.  Relishing in the way your cunt, stretched and squeezed to accommodate his girth.

When you began to move he moaned into the kiss.  Each slow rise and fall of your body on squeezing and releasing his cock.  The heat of your cunt seemed to pass from your into him and spread through his gut.

You couldn’t seem to maintain the slow movements though and soon you began to ride him hard.  Sweat ran down your skin in little rivulets and for a little while he just stared transfixed with how your body looked as you moved against him.

He flipped you over and began to thrust into you, slowly and deeply as he kissed you.  His tongue skirting over the corner of your lips and dipping into your mouth.  He could feel his climax nearing.  His cock throbbed and his balls tightened as it bore down on him.

“Oh god, Steve.”  You whimpered.  “You feel so good.”

“You do too, sweetheart.”  He whispered.

Your cunt began to pulse around his cock, feeling almost like you were trying to milk it with your cunt.  He groaned low and deep, trying to keep going so you could come before he did.

You brought your lips close to his ear so he could feel your breath tickle his skin.  “I’m so close.”

“I’m right there with you.”  He growled.

You began to finger your clit and with a loud cry, you came.  Your cunt squeezed tight on his cock and he groaned, his hips jerking hard into you and coming with you.

He kissed you again, keeping his cock buried inside you as your bodies stilled.  He liked how it felt as your lips slowly caressed each other’s to be connected like that.

Eventually, he rolled from on top of you and tossed the condom away.  You curled up against him.  “I’m glad you’re back.”  You said, trailing your finger over his chest.

“That good was it?”  He teased.

You laughed and hit him.  “Smart ass.”

He leaned over and kissed you.  “I liked it too.  It was time.”

“Yeah.  It was.”  You hummed.  “I love you, Steve.  I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner.”

“I love you too.  It’s been said.”  He said.  “Now we see the path it takes us.”  He was excited to find out.  He could see everything for the two of you.  Marriage, kids.  A home together.  A family.  All because he let Sam talk him into Swiping Right.


End file.
